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Universal Pictures has dropped the first full trailer for Fast and Furious 9, the latest installment in its multibillion-dollar franchise. It's nearly four full minutes of all the ridiculously over-the-top mayhem we've come to expect from Domininc Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his merry band of badass misfits. And no wonder: Director Justin Lin is back on board, who helmed 2006's Tokyo Drift and the next three installments before passing the baton to James Wan for Furious 7.

Fast and Furious 9 is the sequel to 2017's The Fate of the Furious, in which Dom is coerced into following the orders of a cyberterrorist named Cipher (Charlize Theron). Over the course of a very convoluted plot, Dom discovers that his former lover, DSS agent Elena Neves (Elsa Pataky) bore him a son. Elena doesn't survive the film, but the boy does. And of course, Dom and company end up saving the day.

Further Reading

News of a planned ninth and 10th film to complete the franchise broke back in 2016, with F&F9 initially slated for an April 2019 release. It was rescheduled for this year to make room for the 2019 spinoff film, Hobbs and Shaw, starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Stratham in the title roles. There were already rumors of tension between Johnson and Diesel on the set of The Fate of the Furious, and the delay on the ninth film prompted a bitter outburst on Instagram by co-star Tyrese Gibson, who plays team member Roman Pearce in the franchise.

Back from the dead: We haven't seen Han Lue (Sung Kang), chronologically speaking, since Tokyo Drift (2006)

Universal Pictures

This ninth installment pits Dom and his crew against a master thief, assassin, and high-performance driver who just happens to be Dom's younger brother, Jakob (John Cena). As the trailer opens, we see Dom living a quiet, bucolic existence, raising his son Brian with his wife Letty's (Michelle Rodriguez) help. "I used to live my life a quarter mile at a time," he says in a voiceover. "But things change. I'm a father now." Alas, things are not going to remain peaceful for long: "No matter how fast you are, no one outruns their past. And mine just caught up to me."

And who is egging Jakob on? None other than F&F8's criminal mastermind Cipher. She wants revenge after Dom foiled her original plans and assures Jakob that he is smarter and stronger than Dom—although she wonders if Jakob could ever bring himself to kill his older brother, which she, of course, is more than willing to do. We get a glimpse of Magdalene Shaw (Helen Mirren), mother to Deckard and Owen, who offers some pearls of wisdom. "There's nothing more powerful than the love of family," she says. "But you turn that into anger and there's nothing more dangerous."

Naturally, there is all manner of property damage, fisticuffs, and death-defying leaps as well as plenty of high-speed car chases and explosions, because that's what this franchise is ultimately all about: the characters and the amazing stunts. We also get a Pontiac Fiero outfitted with a rocket engine and a "magnet plane" piloted by Cipher. As one last surprise, we see Han Lue (Sung Kang) greet his former colleagues. He was supposedly killed by Shaw in Tokyo Drift. [Clarification: Han Lue did appear in subsequent films: 2009's Fast & Furious, Fast Five (2011), and Fast & Furious 6(2013), all of which were set chronologically before Tokyo Drift. 2015's Furious 7 picks up where Tokyo Driftleft off and depicts Han's funeral. From a chronological standpoint within the franchise timeline, Han has been presumed dead since then.]

Let's face it: plot has never been the franchise's strong suit. F&F9 will probably make about as much sense as its predecessors—in other words, not much sense at all. And fans wouldn't have it any other way.

Fast and Furious 9 hits theaters May 22, 2020. A 10th and final film is planned for the franchise, for release on April 2, 2021.

Question: Why is it every chopper in movies is either an MD-500 (520) or a UH-1 Huey (Rambo films notwithstanding)?

I get that they made a bazillion of them both, but still...

If we're going to go over the top, why not have Airwolf show up flown by a bad guy who is ambivalent about working for other bad guys and decides to fly cover for the good guys? Or even a renegade Apache pilot?

I mean, if we're going over the top on these things, don't low-ball it.

Rocket cars with lasers taking on Airwolf with the 1st Air Cavalry fending off the aerial reinforcements while cars are being blown end over end fifty times like they tripped while going Mach 10, with the good guy never being scratched (except for dramatic purposes, because blood is cool in small amounts).

Obviously, I never got into the zen of F&F, but for eye candy of that nature, sure, why the hell not? We long passed reality in the series, right?

I thought Fast 5 had the perfect amount of campy over-manly nonsense action while keeping the characters likeable. Six and seven went way overboard with the nonsense while taking themselves way too seriously, what really didn't work for me. I didn't watch the 8th.

If we're going to go over the top, why not have Airwolf show up flown by a bad guy who is ambivalent about working for other bad guys and decides to fly cover for the good guys? Or even a renegade Apache pilot?

I mean, there's a MAGNET PLANE in this movie. The only thing that could trump that is like, I don't know, riding a space-x into outer space or something.

If we're going to go over the top, why not have Airwolf show up flown by a bad guy who is ambivalent about working for other bad guys and decides to fly cover for the good guys? Or even a renegade Apache pilot?

I mean, there's a MAGNET PLANE in this movie. The only thing that could trump that is like, I don't know, riding a space-x into outer space or something.

Great, now that it’s leaked, the writers are going to have to completely rewrite the script for the tenth movie.

“They do the same thing again, but this time they go to space they get shrunk and all the action takes places in the veins of one of the characters, who themselves is drifting a submarine through the earth’s core.”

It seems like that trailer blew away a lot of suspense that would have otherwise existed in the movie?

I joke about the irrelevance of the plot up above...but these movies aren’t about suspense. They’re cathartic escapism and spectacle. It doesn’t matter what happens. It can all be undone and changed. This is at least the second time a dead character has returned.

There’s room in the world for stuff like this, and this series does it really well. It’s not deep cinema any more than Stephen King is Dostoyevsky or Taylor Swift is Pacobell...but not everything has to be Serious Art. They make over the top, easy to digest pop culture. And each of these examples is still extremely skilled at what they do.

This is one of the few series that makes me pretty consistently laugh out loud in theaters and it's delightful. This trailer already cracked me up several times. Cannot wait, looks much better than Shobbs and F8 already.

The fact that the heart of this series is surprisingly wholesome, especially for such a genre, is almost entirely unnecessary but only helps to make this series just feel like a fun good time.

Whatever. I’m going to watch this, enjoy it, and probably add the Blu-Ray to the other FF ones on my shelf. These films are great fun and great entertainment, from the first one right through to no doubt this one...

It’s not deep cinema any more than Stephen King is Dostoyevsky or Taylor Swift is Pacobell...but not everything has to be Serious Art.

Pacobell? :O

You mean Taco Bell?

I have to believe the OP meant Pachelbel, but maybe you're riffing on that.

And the Stephen King comparison irks me. He's a damn good writer, but often doesn't get treated like one because of his roots in horror. It reminds me of what Kurt Vonnegut said about science fiction: "I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled "science fiction" ... and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."

If we're going to go over the top, why not have Airwolf show up flown by a bad guy who is ambivalent about working for other bad guys and decides to fly cover for the good guys? Or even a renegade Apache pilot?

I mean, there's a MAGNET PLANE in this movie. The only thing that could trump that is like, I don't know, riding a space-x into outer space or something.

Great, now that it’s leaked, the writers are going to have to completely rewrite the script for the tenth movie.

“They do the same thing again, but this time they go to space they get shrunk and all the action takes places in the veins of one of the characters, who themselves is drifting a submarine through the earth’s core.”

Hey, if it brings Rick Moranis out of semi-retirement, I'm all for it.

And the Stephen King comparison irks me. He's a damn good writer, but often doesn't get treated like one because of his roots in horror. It reminds me of what Kurt Vonnegut said about science fiction: "I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled "science fiction" ... and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."

Meh. My problem with King is that a lot of his long form books have terrible endings.

Regarding fast & furious... the series is really great, fun stuff.

I once had a Fast & Furious marathon with a group of friends. 1-6 all in one day. Our brains were so fried from the total cheesy action and OTT-ness of it all, that we all kinda stumbled/fell into a popcorn, chips, & beer enhanced stupor at the end of it.

And then the next morning, we were all "HELL YA LET'S DO THAT AGAIN".

I'm not sure I'm young enough to do another marathon of 1-6, let alone 1-8 + Shaw & Hobbs, but it's still the sort of movies I really enjoy watching when I need to zonk out.

I used to love these types ofaction movies when I was younger, now I just find them hilarious especially the cliched portentious low octave narration, macho posturing and utterly unrealistic comedy stunts. Thats growing old for you. Jordana Brewster - still a 10/10 on the hot scale though.

I once had a Fast & Furious marathon with a group of friends. 1-6 all in one day. Our brains were so fried from the total cheesy action and OTT-ness of it all, that we all kinda stumbled/fell into a popcorn, chips, & beer enhanced stupor at the end of it.

Oddly, no. That was the first time a character who is alive had to be played by someone different because the actual actor died. Letty was “dead” while there was a contract dispute or something. She got better.

Quote:

Pacobell? :O

Kids, never post when you’re so tired that you save time spell checking by going with autocomplete results.

And the Stephen King comparison irks me. He's a damn good writer, but often doesn't get treated like one because of his roots in horror. It reminds me of what Kurt Vonnegut said about science fiction: "I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled "science fiction" ... and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."

Stephen King is a good writer who has specialized in pulp and bulk. A few of his stories are fantastic, but his career is not defined by high art, but by popular page turners.

To be clear: this still takes tremendous amounts of talent. Taylor Swift does not make music I like. But that doesn’t change the fact that to be as successful as she is, to make songs as catchy as she does, to be achieve what she has achieved...that still takes tremendous talent.

Stephen King IS a very talented writer. Taylor Swift IS a very talented performer. And the people involved in these films ARE extremely talented. It takes a huge amount of talent to produce high volumes of content that are consistently entertaining for a broad group of people. Bring good at being cathartic is not “worse” than being good at being deep. It’s just as hard.

You read into what I said a criticism of King that isn’t there. King is a great writer. But not in the same way as Dostoyevsky. You won’t mistake one author the other. But both take skill. Fast and Furious movies will never be Oscar contenders for plot or writing. But they still take a huge amount of talent to make. The fact that you actually don’t need to understand the plot to enjoy them? That’s a skill. That’s hard as hell. Making a good popcorn movie is hard in a different way than writing an Oscar-winning drama.

But it still takes massive amounts of talent. And to do it consistently? Damn near impossible.

Question: Why is it every chopper in movies is either an MD-500 (520) or a UH-1 Huey (Rambo films notwithstanding)?

I get that they made a bazillion of them both, but still...

If we're going to go over the top, why not have Airwolf show up flown by a bad guy who is ambivalent about working for other bad guys and decides to fly cover for the good guys? Or even a renegade Apache pilot?

I mean, if we're going over the top on these things, don't low-ball it.

Rocket cars with lasers taking on Airwolf with the 1st Air Cavalry fending off the aerial reinforcements while cars are being blown end over end fifty times like they tripped while going Mach 10, with the good guy never being scratched (except for dramatic purposes, because blood is cool in small amounts).

Obviously, I never got into the zen of F&F, but for eye candy of that nature, sure, why the hell not? We long passed reality in the series, right?